Denver Restaurant Week gives you an excuse to pig out at the area’s best eateries

Denver’s reputation for the thinnest residents in the nation may go on hold for seven days, when more than 300 of the city’s top eateries offer an astonishing array of steaks, fish, pasta, sushi, desserts, drinks, and more for Denver Restaurant Week.

Organized by Visit Denver, the 10^th annual Denver Restaurant Week will run from Feb. 22-28.  During DRW, some 313 participating restaurants will offer multi-course dinners for the fixed price of $30 per person, tax and tip not included.

“The fun of restaurant week is to grab some friends, go to the website, and go out on the town,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver. “You’ll get a great deal and a bill that is very easy to split.”

Denver Mayor Michael B. Hancock wore chef’s “whites” and joined 50 of the participating chefs at a kick-off event, stating, “Denver Restaurant Week is a gift from restaurants to their most loyal patrons, the people who live, work and play in Denver.  In great cities, the chefs are as popular as the sports heroes, and we encourage everyone in the city to get out this week and be a restaurant fan,” he said.

DRW was created by Visit Denver in 2005 to elevate Denver’s dining reputation both locally and nationally.

Here are some tips to make Denver Restaurant Week be your best experience. Speakers at the press event stressed proper etiquette for DRW including:

• Never make more than one reservation for each night;
• If you cannot honor your reservation, cancel as soon as possible;
• Remember to tip your server on what the meal would cost without the Restaurant Week discount;
• Consider getting a bottle of wine with dinner (under Colorado law, you can take any unfinished wine with you.

All year long, but particularly during DRW, restaurants and diners alike are encouraged to use the new #denverYUM hashtag when posting photos of delicious food on all social media platforms, including Instagram.

Denver Restaurant Week is not possible without the support of sponsors including: Lexus, Alamos Winery, Edna Valley Vineyard, Mirassou Winery, Louis M. Martini Winery, William Hill Winery, US Foods, Frontier Airlines Johnson & Wales University, Open Table, the Colorado Restaurant Association and the Downtown Denver Partnership Business Improvement District. Media partners include Westword/Westword.com, 5280 The Denver Magazine, the Denver Post and Comcast.

For more information, visit: www.DenverRestaurantWeek.com, or www.EatDrinkDenver.com.